


Shrinking, Violet

by Ilthit



Category: The Violet Carlyle Mysteries - Beth Byers
Genre: F/M, anti-Jack Wakefield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 06:53:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18655210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilthit/pseuds/Ilthit
Summary: Set during A Merry Little Murder.CW: Mention of murder. Anti-Jack/Violet, because I had to.





	Shrinking, Violet

"I don't understand a man like that," Violet confessed to Kate as they lay together in bed. She wasn't at all used to sharing anymore and wondered if this arrangement for Kate's safety would leave her tossing and turning, not for fear of a strangler coming through the door at any moment, but simply for the discomfort of having another body next to hers. Rouge, her spaniel puppy, had never bothered her, but perhaps that was simply because Violet never worried about keeping the dog awake.

"I wish I didn't," said Kate, startling her. Kate had scrubbed before bed and even on her own pillow Violet could smell the scent of her own soap on her. She was snuggled under the covers up to her freckled nose, looking almost like a child at a sleepover, if it wasn't for the perpetually serious expression in her eyes.

"How... how do you?"

Kate shrugged, making the duvet shift. "Observation. Psychology. One can see it daily on a smaller scale. Once a person gets used to a privilege, if that privilege is taken away, they feel slighted. With a certain kind of personality, it grows into a sense of entitlement and thereafter cruelty. Without compassion or the strength of character to recognize one's own shortcomings, or another's autonomy... People do terrible things, and those terrible things, moreover, become viewed as entirely normal. It isn't impossible to envision a world in which eating animals would be considered entirely horrific, for example."

Violet couldn't argue with that. She loved a good steak, but eating, say, a dog or a cat was entirely unthinkable. She swallowed, not too happy to consider this point on the subjectivity of ethics. "Thank God Jack isn't like that."

"You have been at odds." It was a statement, not a question, but Violet nodded all the same.

"He became jealous and overly protective. I had no time or space in my heart then to accommodate his worries. But it's all over now. We've patched things up." She offered Kate a bright smile.

Kate sat up, out of her soft cave of blankets. "Jealous and protective?"

Violet shrugged. "I can't blame him. Tomas... My dear old friend who was hosting us at the time has proposed to me time and time again. I've always turned him down, but I've not let it ruin our friendship. I suppose any man would be jealous."

"And protective?"

"He was not exactly thrilled at me investigating on my own, or refusing to stay away from Tomas just because he was a suspect. I fear I entirely ignored him."

"Did that make him angry?"

It was Violet's turn to shrug, but the gesture, she feared, was weak. It had bothered her at the time how upset she must have made Jack. It had bothered her even more after the fact, once Tomas was safe and the situation had lost some of its adrenaline-fuelled intensity.

"Violet," said Kate quietly. "If I told you everything you just told me about a man I had been seeing, what do you think you would say to me?"

Violet stared at her. The woman her brother was falling in love with gave her a steady stare. The candlelight softened her features, hiding half of her in shadows. "What do you mean?"

"A man you have been seeing, who has no real claim on you, forbids you from doing what you want to do, going where you want to go, gets angry that you have male friends other than himself, and leaves you doubting the rightness of your own actions even when, from what you tell me, they have been entirely innocent."

"Kate! Jack isn't like that!"

"Mmm." Violet noted a touch of humour in the corner of Kate's mouth. "I'm not worried about your safety. If he ever crosses the line, I believe you'll run rather than let him take over your life and free will. You won't be able to keep it a secret like Harriet did, not with Victor around. I just wonder if you're as perceptive about men when it comes to your own romances."

Violet let out a puff of air. Intellectually, she could not help but agree. But... Jack just wasn't like that. "You don't know him."

If Kate had shrugged again, it might have driven Violet over the edge into a huff. Instead, she just gazed at her with those beautiful, serious eyes. "We don't really know anybody, Violet. Do we? If we did, how could what happened to Harriet have happened without anybody knowing about it?"

Violet had no answer. Kate was making a habit of leaving her speechless. "I hope I have you around for a very long time to come," she said at last. "You're perspective personified, darling."

Kate laughed, and the tension seemed to dissipate. "I suppose that is one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me."

Violet did lay awake for some time after Kate had curled up and was lightly snoring by her side, but it wasn't for any of the reasons she should be worried about. Kate might have a point about Jack. He could be terribly bossy. She would even admit that a part of her attraction to him was in how helpless he made her feel. Despite her name, Violet was no shrinking flower. It was just that sometimes... it felt nice to let someone else be in charge.

God. She couldn't be thinking like this. Jack was the one good thing she could hold on to right now. There was a killer on the loose. If anybody would get that killer before he got Kate, it would be Jack. Jack would take care of everything. That's all he wanted to do. To take care of everything...

She fell into a sleep at last, dreaming of precipices and men with sharp eyes that undressed her to the bone.


End file.
